Sheil Kapadia

Philly.com

Update: ESPN's Chris Mortensen questioned the $40M in guaranteed money that his colleague Michael Smith reported Donovan McNabb would be receiving in his new contract.

Mortensen's words are interesting because he was the one who reported that the Redskins had to cut the playbook in half for McNabb. Mortensen also said Washington considered benching McNabb before the first matchup with the Eagles.

His sources are clearly close to Shanahan, while Smith's sources are obviously in McNabb's camp.

Per Mortensen, the McNabb deal has been on the table since early this season, but McNabb didn't want to take it because it didn't have a lot of "real money."

"They may be leaking $40M in guaranteed money and $72M in total value, but in reality, until we see the contract, and I can almost assure you when we see the contract, we'll see that McNabb's getting about $10 or $12M in new money, and that the Redskins will have the ability to walk away from this deal as early as next year or as early as the year after before this real guaranteed money supposedly kicks in," Mortensen said, later adding, "It's a nice trick."

Maybe I'm not as well-versed in contract speak as others, but the word "guaranteed" seems pretty black and white to me. Is it $40M as originally reported? Or is it $10M to $12M as Mortensen suggests?

From earlier:

Donovan McNabb isn't going anywhere.

Despite being benched a couple weeks ago against the Detroit Lions, McNabb and the Redskins have agreed to a five-year extension worth $78 million and $40 million guaranteed, according to Michael Smith of ESPN.

Per Smith, the deal could get up to $88M if McNabb reaches certain incentives.

McNabb turns 34 later this month.

You have to wonder what Mike Shanahan thinks about the deal. Shanahan, of course, pulled McNabb two weeks ago, first saying he wasn't a good option to the run the two-minute drill, then questioning his cardiovascular endurance.

Someone (or some people) proceeded to leak stories to the national media that painted McNabb in a bad light. For example, a source told ESPN's Chris Mortensen that Shanahan and his son Kyle, the offensive coordinator, had to cut the playbook in half for McNabb.

Mortensen also reported that the Redskins thought about benching McNabb before the Eagles game in Week 4.

In eight games with the Redskins, McNabb has completed 57.4 percent of his attempts, with seven touchdowns and eight interceptions. His QB rating of 76.0 is McNabb's lowest since his rookie season.

So, in reality, this extension is about what the Redskins saw McNabb do as a member of the Eagles, not what he's done in half a season in Washington.

As a point of reference, the Patriots gave Tom Brady a four-year deal worth $72M in September (plus the $6.5M for one year that was part of his previous deal). That contract included a reported $48.5M guaranteed.

An interesting sidenote here is how this contract affects the Eagles. The Birds have a certain quarterback named Michael Vick who is a free agent at the end of the season. McNabb's QB rating is 76; Vick's is 105.3. And Vick is four years younger than McNabb, with less wear and tear.

Of course, McNabb doesn't have Vick's baggage, but if you're looking at which QB has played better this year, it's no contest.

That's a long way of saying Vick is looking at a monster payday if he continues to perform at a high level.